The Brazilian government announced on Monday (03.06.2019) the suspension of its beef exports to China, following the identification of an "atypical" case of mad cow disease in the state of Mato Grosso (center-west).
Brazil "suspended the issuance of health certificates", until the Chinese authorities complete their assessment "based on the information transmitted about the episode," said a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA).
According to the MAPA, this is an "atypical" case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, since it occurred "spontaneously and sporadically, unrelated to the ingestion of contaminated food."
The measure is limited to China under a "bilateral protocol" signed in 2015, but the International Organization for Animal Health (OIE) considered it unnecessary to change the Brazilian health status, "which continues to consider this animal disease to be of insignificant risk," said MAPA.
Brazilian beef exports to China in the first four months of this year totaled $442.3 million, or 26% of the total, up 16.12% from the same period last year, according to data from the Brazilian Ministry of Economy.
The announcement late in the afternoon of the suspension of exports caused significant falls in the largest meat packing companies in the South American agricultural power on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange: Marfrig lost 4.25%, JBS 2.93% and Minerva 2.80 percent.
The animal in which the disease was detected was a 17-year-old cow, MAPA said.
"The specific risk material for BSE was removed from the animal during the emergency slaughter and incinerated in the slaughterhouse itself," said the ministry, which insisted that the case "does not represent any risk for the population."
Source: AFP
Update on a case of atypical BSE verified in Mato Grosso https://t.co/yivoUoM9dg pic.twitter.com/yAg9k5tuoG
— Ministry of Agriculture (@Min_Agriculture) June 3th, 2019
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